Bernardo Arjona Acad

emic

Por

tfol

io 2

005-

2010

03 07 10

13 16 19

France Study Abroad Studio

3

The proposed site is adjacent to the current train station and the proposed changes include: changes to the current train station to make it more efficient, a restructured transit system that removes CO2 emitting vehicle and moves all vehicular circulation to 7 main streets, a new Transit HUB to facilitate the new system, and a solar park that will power the new building and its functions.The train tracks will be lowered so that Rue Gambetta can reconnect across the train tracks. This gesture also allows the trains to be accessed more easily by pedestrians from above. CO2 emitting vehicles will be replaced by a system of over 1000 electric vehicles that circulate through Avenue Gambetta/National, Cours Reverseaux, Avenue de la Saintonge, Rue Emile Zola, Avenue Jules Dufaure, Quai de Verdun, and Rue Gautier. These cars will be housed in 6 key locations throughout Saintes and have their main stor-age on the new site. These key locations will also house new locations for the market in order to activate different parts of the city.The main location for all these functions will be on or near the new Transit HUB. The Transit HUB rests on the southern end of train station and is approached from the south through a new park/plaza that houses the market functions. The electric car parking is a spectacle on the site as the electric cars are parked on lifts and slotted into their stor-age, akin to an enormous vending machine. This system is plugged directly into Rue Gambetta to allow ease of entrance and departure from the site.The Transit HUB will manage and facilitate all these changes to the city and the new functions of the site. Therefor, the building becomes the machine that drives the transfor-mation of Saintes into a sustainable, CO2 free city. The HUB will begin to anchor the eastern side of Saintes and promote growth across the river and the tracks. And eventu-ally, it will put Saintes back on the map as the paradigm of a sustainable city in France, Europe, and the rest of the world.

Saintes Transit HUB4

Ground Floor First Floor5

Viewing PlatformSecond Floor

Saintes Transit HUB

Third Floor 6

Fourth Year Studio

7

The investigations into wire mesh with this study delved into the material’s density and light patterns. The mobius form was chosen because of its inherent overlapping of the grids and perviousness in its form. From this form came studies on aggregation, layering, and action processes. Two actions were studied, twisting and folding. “Twisting” is an ideal way to convey and study the properties of densities in the wire mesh. “Folding” is another way to convey density, but in a larger massive form. It loses the screen type properties and becomes more of an organic mass. The final product is seen as a light screen/diffuser that emanates different light and shadow patterns throughout its range of densities.

Material Study

8

Third Year Studio

10

The site, which is roughly 1200 sf and holds 23 units, is located on Temple and Dillon in Silver Lake. I created a system which allows for light and ventilation from at least 3 sides in each unit. There is also an interplay between the language, materiality, and fenestration of the inner and outer spaces.

Medium Density Housing

11

This is the single bedroom unit. The entry has a straight shot view to the large window in the living room. The bedroom quarters can be closed off to the living room in order to make it completely private.

Medium Density Housing

12

Second Year Studio

13

In this project, I designed a cube that invesitgates views and openings in three different scales. The 1:1 scale is demarcated by the fingerprints and is engaged by the holder of the object. The 1:8 and 1:16 are engaged by scaled figures etched into the openings. This begins to explore how open-ings take on different effects at different scales without changing their shape.

Views + Openings

14

First Year Studio

16

In this project, I designed a fictional dwelling place based upon a Carte-sian. One of the main goals was to redefine the Cartesian within a folly that would be a habital space for one resident. It is comprised of a studio, bedroom, entryway, balcony, and zen-like garden.

View from southeast. Entry is on top right. Isolated garden is on bottom right.

View from northwest. Stairs lead from the balcony to the studio and bedroom below.

Cartesian Folly

17

Light Study Model In this project, we studied the Air Force Academy Chapel by Walter Netsch and built an accurate model in order to study the light qualities of the chapel.

18